


Wherefore Rise You Now?

by planet_plantagenet



Category: Julius Caesar - Shakespeare
Genre: Conversations, Late at Night, Multi, Polyamory, Present Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 00:05:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11324529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/planet_plantagenet/pseuds/planet_plantagenet
Summary: Cassius needs to tell Brutus something, but ends up talking to Portia instead.Setting: right before the play begins. Portia’s POV. Modern AU because I don’t feel like I know enough about ancient Rome to confidently write about it in this way.





	Wherefore Rise You Now?

The doorbell rings: a rude awakening from my sleep. Brutus is curled up beside me, stiff as a log; there is no indication he heard any sort of sound. Do I dare wake him? Undoubtedly the person at the door is looking to speak with him: he’s been the most popular man in Rome for the last couple days, for reasons I can’t seem to get from him.

But he hasn’t gotten nearly enough sleep in the last week, and it would be unkind to disturb his well-deserved slumber. So I slip out of the room, pull on some sandals, and walk to the door.

Unsurprisingly, Caius Cassius is standing on the porch, wearing his characteristic and perpetually nervous smile. Surprisingly, that smile fades when I open the door, replaced with a kind of questioning look.

“Where’s Brutus?” he asks, voice as quiet as the street outside.

“Asleep.”

“Oh.”

He doesn’t speak for about five seconds, but he doesn’t leave either. I cut in.

“Is it urgent?”

“That, um, depends on how you define _urgent_.”

I clarify. “Brutus tells me that he, you, and some of your friends—Casca, Cinna, Decius, the like—have been making some very serious plans.”

Cassius suddenly goes very pale. “You know about the—”

“Brutus has neglected to mention the details,” I reply saltily, crossing my arms, “but I’ve been told it’s extremely important.”

“It is,” Cassius tells me, as if I needed any more assurance of the matter.

“Anyway. It’s half past midnight. Why do you need Brutus?”

“I need to talk with him.”

“About something serious?”

“More or less.”

“Regarding your… plans?”

A moment’s hesitation. “No.”

“I see.”

This next pause is longer. I can see Cassius shifting his gaze, not daring to meet my eyes.

“If not to discuss your plans,” I finally say, “why would you come over to Brutus’ house in the middle of the night?”

“We need to talk.”

“About what?”

“Things.” Cassius squirms under the scrutiny of my gaze.

“Things that I should know about?”

I can see the thoughts dashing back and forth within Cassius’ head. Whatever he was planning to discuss with Brutus, he really doesn’t want me to know. But now I know something’s up, and he doesn’t want to lie….

“Or perhaps,” I continue, “things that I _should_ know about, but you don’t _want_ me to know about.”

He finally looks up at me, and I know that I’ve hit the nail on the head.

I step out onto the porch, closing the door behind me. There is no emotion but anxiety on Cassius’ face. Slowly, I sit on the top step, and he lowers himself down to sit next to me, arms cradling his knees and eyes looking anywhere but my face.

“Are you scared?” I ask.

“Of what?” He laughs, but the sound is high-pitched and thoroughly fake. He’s definitely scared.

If I want to get anything out of Cassius, repeating questions is not going to be a useful tactic. He’ll just blurt out the most vague reply that comes into his brain. So I’m going to have to be specific. Fortunately, I have a starting point.

“You and Brutus do seem to spend a lot of time together,” I remark in the most nonchalant voice I can muster.

He shrugs, matching my tone. “Yeah, well, we’ve been talking about our plans.”

“Even before you had these plans. You’ve been good friends for a while.”

“Yeah…?” Cassius’ reply comes out almost like a question. _Why is this relevant?_ his countenance screams. _Let’s talk about something else. Anything else._

“You know, to be perfectly honest, I used to be kind of jealous. There were days where Brutus would spend more time with you than he would with me. But I got over it. Everyone is allowed to have friends.”

“Yeah,” he mumbles in reply.

“In a way, we both have similar relationships with him.”

A sharp intake of breath. “What do you mean?”

“I consider Brutus one of my best friends.”

Pause. I can hear Cassius breathing beside me.

“Cassius, are you in love with Brutus?”

He neither confirms nor denies it, just looks straight ahead. I can see him shaking. But I don’t really need an answer—his reactions have told me everything I need to know.

“It’s okay,” I begin—it’s not like this is news to me—but Cassius buries his face in his hands.

“No, it’s not.”

“Cassius, your feelings are completely valid—”

“No, they aren’t. They aren’t.”

“What do you mean?”

Cassius looks up at me, and his eyes are glistening. “I’ve tried so hard. He doesn’t understand. He thinks we’re just friends. He doesn’t see the way I look at him, or how much I’ve done for him—no matter what I do, he just doesn’t understand how much I—I—Portia, I’d die for him, and he doesn’t get that, he just thinks I’m joking when I—”

A flood of tears interrupts Cassius’ rant, and he chokes on his own frenzied words. I put my arms around him, and he cries silently into my shoulder. Maybe it’s the effect of my words, or of the heightened emotional state that comes at night—but the fragile Cassius has finally cracked, and everything he’s kept inside him is now pouring out.

I wonder how long it’s been since he last let himself cry.

After a second, he jerks away, embarrassment covering every inch of his face. “I’m so sorry, Portia—I’m just dumping this all on you—”

“It’s all right.” And as an afterthought: “I’m glad that you feel you can trust me with your emotions.”

Cassius swallows nervously. “But he’s your husband—I shouldn’t—”

Well. I knew he was going to bring that up at some point.

So I look him in the eyes and say, very pointedly, “Polyamory is a thing, Cassius.”

His eyes go very wide, as if he can’t believe his ears. “Wait—you’re saying that me and Brutus can—really? You’d be okay with—?”

I cut him off. “If you love Brutus, and he loves you back, I have no problem with the two of you going out.” I smile. “And then, of course, Brutus and I can still stay a happy, married couple.”

“But isn’t that like—cheating?”

“Not if it’s consensual.”

Cassius shakes his head in awe. “I can’t believe you would let me do that—”

“I want you to be happy, and I want Brutus to be happy. Given how much time he already spends with you, not much would be different.”

“You wouldn’t be jealous?”

“I got over my jealousy a long time ago.”

He takes a deep breath, exhales slowly. “Thank you, Portia.” Pause. “But of course… this all depends on whether or not Brutus actually likes me back….”

“Isn’t that what you came to ask him about?”

“...Something like that.”

“And do you still plan on asking him tonight?”

He shakes his head fervently, and I laugh.

“Well, when you do talk to him, tell him what I said, okay?”

Cassius smiles, wider than I’ve seen him do for a while. “I will.”


End file.
